The story continues

As part of our ongoing coverage of veterans’ disability benefits, we’ve been profiling Kyle Dubay, a 28-year-old former combat medic who served three tours in Iraq.

He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and tried all the usual things to treat his PTSD – medication and talk therapy helped him some – but found real solace in mixed martial arts, a form of combat fighting that’s a cross between kickboxing and wrestling.

Reporter/producer Samara Freemark joined the Public Insight Network after four years at Radio Diaries in New York City, where she spent her time helping ordinary people tell their extraordinary stories for NPR. In the process, she developed an unshakeable belief in the beauty and power of personal narrative.

Before Radio Diaries Samara worked as an environmental reporter, a posting that took her to sinking islands, Superfund sites, and literal snakepits – Burmese pythons, to be exact. She also churned out copy and tape in the newsroom of WUOM Ann Arbor. Before settling on a career in radio she tried out policy research, community organizing, and urban planning before deciding she preferred soundwaves to spreadsheets.